Chemo Cycle 3, oil on board, 113⁄4x113⁄4in (30x30cm). I painted this on week 8 of my treatment. I’d lost all my hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes. I painted from life with a limited palette, a version of the Zorn palette. I worked in a darkened studio with just two spotlights, one to light my face and another on my canvas. My intention was to convey my strength and determination to beat this disease
In June 2018 I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – DLBCL – which needed to be treated with 18 weeks of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. In many ways the diagnosis has changed my life for the better. It gave me the push to end a long career as an art director in advertising and to dedicate my time to painting.
I wanted to get something positive from this difficult period in my life, so I decided to record 18 weeks of treatment with a self-portrait a week and put the images out on social media. Once I’d put my first selfportrait out on Instagram and Facebook I was committed and had to keep it up, even when I didn’t really feel up to it and produced work that I wasn’t that happy with. It became more challenging than I’d anticipated, especially as I became more fatigued as the treatment went on.